Apocalypse
by Santamadre
Summary: Buffy wasn't killed by the portal. The gate to hell did not close. She woke up amidst the ruins of what had once been Sunnydale, alone and scared, with the Key glowing brightly above.
1. Failed

Darkness had sounds and smells. It also had pain. She struggled against it. Her eyes blinked open. There was nothing but rubles and fire before her eyes. The stench of death and decay poisoned the air. Buffy crawled slowly to her knees, staring in stunned disbelief at the desolated land.

The sky was dark, starless; a small ball of dim light had replaced the moon. Its white sickly glow illuminated the destruction. She could see only darkness passed that blinding flare. A lightening shot out from the ball. It lashed out against the earth, opening a new flaming smocking gash. Buffy looked up and squinted to inspect that new moon. Something dark and winged emerged from within it. It disappeared in the horizon.

It was the portal; it was still opened. She wasn't dead and the portal had not closed. Buffy found the strength to get up.

"Dawn!"

She screamed. Her legs moved and she searched, frantically, for a way to reach the portal. There was nothing to climb. Not a single perch for Dawn to stand on. She looked up at the ball and screamed again and again. Only the echoes of her heart-rending wails responded her.

* * *

Buffy walked the desolated land like a ghost. She knew now that it was Sunnydale. There it was the Magic Shop, a chunk of its sign sticking out from within a cluster of carbonized wood. There it was the basement of her home, exposed for the world to see its ravaged insides. There it was the ruins of High School. Strangely, it was the only thing still standing as she remembered it. Xander's apartment, the University...everything else was different; it was destroyed.

Her shuffling feet, seemly trying to hurt her, continued taking her to the places that were part of her life, where the people she loved should be. All she found was destruction; the stench of death and decay followed her everywhere. Sometimes there was movement amidst the ruins, whispers at her right, growls at her left, and then the world was still once again.

It seemed only demons roamed the earth; she could hear their wails and shrieks in the distance. Perhaps she was dreaming. This was just a nightmare; it had to be. This couldn't be the real Sunnydale. She couldn't have survived to see this, to die here. The webs of madness tightened their hold on her brain.

* * *

The place was abandoned. Nothing alive roamed its corners. Flickering shadows moved amidst the debris and rooting furniture. A steady stream of water fell from the half-collapsed roof, hitting the burnt TV's surface. She glanced around. Giles' apartment had, somehow, survived the devastation a little better but it was still gone. Everything was gone.

Buffy sat down calmly on the remains of the staircase, staring dully ahead. The tears had stopped flowing. Her heart beat slow and steadily. A stake of half-rooting wood was clasped firmly on her hands. The tip rested firmly on her chest. Buffy swallowed, took a deep breath and…

"Buffy? Buffy! Is that really you?! My Lord!"

Her eyes snapped back open, her heart racing at the sound of that familiar voice. She whirled around to find Giles standing by the door. He looked tired and hurt but it wasn't a vision. He was really there. She leapt blindly. Giles grunted as his slayer crushed him in a powerful bear-hug. Moved by her heart-rending sobbing, he closed his arms around her.

"I thought you were gone." He said. "You jumped to the portal and we lost sight of you. We thought your body just…burnt or that you were transferred to another dimension…But here you are. Alive and well!"

"Yeah…." Buffy whispered. "Lucky me…How long was I gone?"

"...I think it's been a century now..."

"The others…?"

"I am afraid we lost contact some time ago. I am alone here."

He pushed her gently away. Buffy felt another part of her dying inside as the sight of his face confirmed what she had known the second her ear touched his chest. Giles' human visage was twisted horribly; his burrow was all wrinkles and lumps. His sage eyes were burning with feral hunger. His mouth was filled with sharp wicked teeth.

"But you are here now." He said gently, his hands perched on her shoulders. His face twisted in a mockery of paternal comfort. "It will not hurt much, I promise."

He leaned over and Buffy slumped against his chest. For a moment, she caressed the idea of just letting him do it. What was the point of being alive in this place? There were only demons; it was just best if she was a demon too. She would stay with Giles and they would kill other demons. Maybe they would find the others, also vamps, and reassemble the Scooby Gang. And they would live an eternity in the destroyed Sunnydale to live a hideous parody of what their life had once been.

"Where are the others?" She asked, baring the pain of his fangs slowly pinching her neck. "Please, I need to know."

"This is rather important, Buffy. Social frivolous matters can wait. Please, hold still."

"Where's Angel?"

"I do not know."

"They are still around…"

A growl of annoyance; the hold on her shoulders grew painful. The fangs penetrated. Feral ancient instincts took over. Buffy's hand stroke like lightening, burying the stake on Gile's heart. He stiffened and straightened to give her an all too familiar look of disapproval and shocked anger…right before he turned into dust. It was blown away by the wind.

With nothing to support her, Buffy fell to her knees, crying like a heart-broken child.


	2. The Others

Delicious reviews! Thanks for the encouragement! Here Chapter 2:

* * *

Buffy walked the empty streets. She was thirsty, hungry and devastated. Only hopes of finding the others kept her going. She had failed to protect them in life but she wasn't going to let demons wear their faces. She would find them, kill them and only then, she would lie down and die.

Things moved in the darkness, growling and hissing. Slayer instincts shrieked and twisted. She paid them no mind. If she was lucky, a powerful demon would leap from the darkness to put an end to her mystery. Her silent unconscious pleads were answered.

A pack of vampires was suddenly surrounding her. Hissing, growling, laughing and giggling like feeding hyenas, their wild eyes fixed on her. Buffy stepped back; an emotion managed to fight through the numbness that had smothered her heart: compassion for the pathetic creatures standing before her. There was nothing but ragged clothes clinging to their skeletal bodies. Some were missing limbs and most of their faces were covered in wide gashing wounds.

They suddenly attacked; most at each other, fighting viciously to secure this lone piece of living hot blood. Dust filled the air as heads were ripped off and stakes buried in still hearts. Out of thirty vamps, only a dozen survived to face Buffy. The Slayer couldn't help making a witty comment as they approached her slowly:

"My, finally have time for me! Slayers aren't priority around here?"

They attacked. Their blows were erratic and feeble. Buffy dusted them easily. One went down, then three, then ten, then fifteen, then twenty. She frowned. A dozen weren't twenty…or twenty five. Growing tired, coughing and wheezing in the dusty air, Buffy realized more vampires were jumping out from the shadows to join the fray. There were hundreds around her, fighting among them like rabid dogs, while others, possibly the strongest, tried to subdue her.

A bit on her left arm, powerful hands grabbing her legs; fangs burying on her neck; blood was being drained. Buffy stared at the dark sky, her mouth open in a silent scream. Death was coming. She closed her eyes and welcomed it dully.

The pain stopped. The vampires shrieked and wailed around her; they were suddenly dust. With nothing to hold her, Buffy fell to her knees. She closed her eyes as the vicious brawl progressed. And then, as soon as it had started, the chaos stopped. She risked to take a peak: all vampires were gone. Only one remained. This one wasn't all skin and bones. His clothes were ripped in some parts; it was filthy but mostly intact. He whirled to face her.

"Spike!" The vampire roared and leapt at her. He reeled back, grabbing his head with a shriek of agony. The pain subsided and he leapt at her again just to recoil again. Buffy rolled her eyes. She found the familiar situation oddly comforting. "Would you stop? Can't bite people. I'm people."

Buffy flinched violently and rolled quickly to the side. A vampire dropped there where she had been standing just a second before. He crawled in the ground like a beast, facing her with a snarling face as he crouched there in all fours. She paled at the sight of that new familiar face.

Xander was about to leap at her when Spike dropped on him. He tried to strangle him but finding too much resistance, he finally settled for slamming him back hard against the floor.

"If I can't have her, nobody can!" Spike howled ferociously. "Nobody!"

"The bitch's mine!" Xander shrieked back. He faced Buffy. She shuddered and gave an involuntary step back; the sight of that familiar loved face twisted into that hideous demonic visage made her sick. "Hi there, Buffy. Long time no see..."

Buffy opened her mouth but immediately closed it again. There was nothing to say. This was a demon that wore her friend's face. A demon she had to kill. She raised the half rotten stake on her hand. Xander heaved, standing up again. A small ripped pair of pants failed to spare her from the heart-breaking sight of his thin damaged body. She gave another hesitant step back. The demon grinned.

"What's the problem, Buffster? I'm a vamp! Don't ya have to send me to dustvylle? Come on, let's start the kung-fu karate-yudy dance! I've dreaming to snap your neck for decades! Wanna pay you back for what ya did to us!"

Buffy's face hardened, but her hand wavered; her lower lip trembled.

"I didn't do this..I..."

"Oh, yeah you did. You could've let us killed Dawn. You could've done it yourself. But no…You jumped…And now…Now I'm spending my fucking no-life starving!"

It seemed he was going to attack her again but then, the hideous howl resounded in the skies; it was louder. And the air was growing increasingly hot. Xander hesitated briefly before bolting. Buffy didn't want to pursue but Spike grabbed her hand and dragged her along. She didn't even try to resist but the stake was never dropped.

"Don't worry, my love." He panted. "If I can't eat you, nobody's going to."

There was a hole on the ground ahead-the remnant of what had once been a culvert inlet. They rushed inside, going deeply into the narrow, circular canal. Another hideous shriek; Buffy fell to her knees, covering her ears in agony. Suddenly, fire engulfed the world outside. The entrance of their tunnel was suddenly blocked by roaring flames. Heath rushed inside to hit them like an invisible fist. Silence; darkness; the air grew immensely cold and heavy. Buffy felt an overwhelming terror and cowered between Spike and Xander.

And then, the sickly light of the dying portal filtered into the entrance of the hole, licking the shadows spreading before them. Buffy was able to breathe again. She was trembling and her body was covered by a cold sweat.

"What the hell was that?!"

"A dragon." Xander cackled.

"What are you doing? Don't make that noise. And a dragon? _That_ was a dragon?"

"Nothing like the cute beasties of movies, uh?" Spike snorted.

"Spike, Spikey, my most obnoxious friend! Are we gonna eat her or what?"

"Always thinking with your stomach, Xander Harris. How tiresome."

A dry familiar voice echoed from the darkness extending deeper into the culvert. Buffy's heart leapt at her throat. Its owner finally emerged in all her pale veiny glory. Xander whirled on her with a snarl.

"Well, how can't I? I've been eating nothing but rats for decades! And even those're getting hard to find!"

"True." Anyanka muttered, fixing on Buffy an unfriendly cold gaze. "And the responsible for all this misery finally shows her face. Good work, by the way, Buffy."

"This was not supposed to happen..." The Slayer whispered "I jumped to the portal. I-it was supposed to close. My blood…Dawn's…."

"Whatever you were planning on doing, it didn't work. The portal never closed."

"But then Dawn's not…she's alive. They said the portal would close when she died."

"Does it matter anymore?" Anya grumbled as Xander approached her. He hugged her tenderly, burying his twisted face against her neck. "It's all gone now anyway."

"No…there's got to be a way. This can't be real. This can't be real!"

Buffy fought the urge bravely but it was useless; she broke down into bitter tears in front of the dangerous demons surrounding her. It had to be a nightmare. She was going to wake up soon. The pain of her wounds denied her the solace of delusion. The urge to stake her own heart was overwhelming her again. Spike's strong callous hands took a firm hold of her wrists. He fixed golden eyes on hers. His face twisted shifted; Buffy felt ashamed by the overwhelming relief seeing his human face brought.

"I don't think anyone thought this was going to happen. We were all…foolish." Anya said with a sigh. "Doesn't change things. It is peculiar that you are here now. We thought you were dead or suffering endless torments in some hell dimension. Some other hell dimension. You are the first human we see in decades."

"Or anything alive bigger than a rat." Spike grumbled. He punched the wall; his fist buried deeply in the concrete. He snatched it back. There was a small screeching mouse between his fingers. He bit it savagely and drained it completely in one sip. He threw the body aside and spat. "Tastes like sewer. Hey, don't space out like last time!" Buffy blinked and looked at him dully. He growled and grabbed her arms. "You don't like this? Then we've got to do something to change it!"

"Change it?" Xander sneered, picking up the dead mice and trying to suck more out of it. "Yeah, cause that's easy to do. We just got to call the Hell Provider and tell them we ain't satisfied with their service!"

Buffy looked dully at Anya. She seemed to guess her thoughts.

"There's been changes in the High Hierarchies. Big fights, lots of dying…Can't grant wishes anymore. The few demons that can still use higher powers are too dangerous to talk to and the only witch with enough power to do anything is insane…"

"Witch? Which witch?"

"Oh, right. Willow is still alive. Insane but alive."

"Poor Wills…" Xander sighed. "Should've let me turn her. She would've been better off as a vamp. Remember the vamp Willow…that was some nice piece of…"

Anya's unamused glare was enough to shut him up.

Buffy took a moment to let that slide in. Willow-her best friend, the most tender, gentle person she had ever known-was still alive. The sole piece of information was a life-saver. It granted her with a mission; a reason to stay alive; a reason to fight. She looked at Spike. His eyes were still fixed on her.

"I don't understand anything right now. I do know that every enemy we defeated, we defeated them together. If Willow's around, we've gotta find her. If there's anyway to fix this, she's got the kind of power we need to make it happen."

"Okay, first of, she's on the other side of town." Xander snapped. "How the hell you plan to get there?"

"Walking and killing any demon that gets in our way."

"Oh, okay, yeah! Kill anything that gets in our way, right. Never thought of that before. And they say blonds are stupid."

"I'm blonde." Spike murmured. "And I'm not stupid. Not Buffy stupid."

"Putting aside the sarcastic bitter remarks, you did almost urinated your pants unwillingly when the Ajagara-demon passed by. And that is not the worst creature your little sister unleashed on us."

"Dawn didn't unleash anything." Buffy growled between clenched teeth. "They cut her open. They killed her. This is not her fault."

"She should have done the world a favor and killed herself!" Xander barked.

Buffy slammed a fist on his face. He staggered, growled ferociously and threw another punch. It was a brutal fight. The vampire was half-stared but he had rage and experience backing him up. The Slayer was fed and well rested but guilt and compassion kept staggering her. Every nailed punch, however, made the next one easier. The scale became unbalanced. Xander was soon on the ground, winded and dazed.

Buffy nailed a fist on his neck and held the stake pressed firmly against his chest, inches away from his unbeaten heart.

"You are with me or against me. Choose."

"With you, Buff, come on!" His demonic visage twisted into a known familiar face. Buffy couldn't help wincing. "We've been always together. We're friends; best budds!"

"Another word about Dawn and you're dust."

"No joking about little sis, checked. Now, how about getting that pointy nasty baby away from my heart?"

She stood and glanced at the other two. She was afraid to ask, but it was necessary.

"Is anyone else here? Tara, Riley...Angel? Is there anyone else left?"

"Angelus was around a few decades ago." Spike said. "Till that crazy Faith chick came along. They killed each other."

"Can count Riley out too." Xander stated proudly. "Toy soldier and I tussle some time ago in the border."

One look from her and he shut his mouth. His self-satisfied smile remained. Buffy welcomed the hatred it stirred on her. She needed to be ready when the time to dust him came.

"...Tara?"

"Last time I saw her, she was guarding the Hellmouth with an army of witches from some Coven in England." Anya said.

"Yeah…" Spike chuckled, eyeing her with sudden malice. "Guarding it against lil' Willow."


End file.
